New Survival Mechanic In Smash 4 - "Vectoring"

[Renji64]

This sucks i wanted some combos and hype. This game may turn into brawl 2.0 after all.

 

[Rock & Roller Wabbit]

This sucks i wanted some combos and hype. This game may turn into brawl 2.0 after all.

wow.
GAME ISN'T EVEN OUT IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU'RE ALREADY JUDGING IT.
Unless you have a Japanese 3DS and a copy of the game FROM Japan(or have played the demo),
you have no right to judge the game as Brawl 2.0.
AND EVEN THEN, what's the problem with that? It'd still be a fun Super Smash Bros. game. There's still gonna be tournaments.
Don't ridicule a game unless you've played it. Otherwise, you're just another user jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[Renji64]

wow.
GAME ISN'T EVEN OUT IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU'RE ALREADY JUDGING IT.
Unless you have a Japanese 3DS and a copy of the game FROM Japan(or have played the demo),
you have no right to judge the game as Brawl 2.0.
AND EVEN THEN, what's the problem with that? It'd still be a fun Super Smash Bros. game. There's still gonna be tournaments.
Don't ridicule a game unless you've played it. Otherwise, you're just another user jumping on the bandwagon.

Did you not see the word may. Chill out sensitive tard. The OP post says there won't be much combos it has been pretty clear in the streams haven't seen much or any.

 

[Crawfish]

*sigh*
wtf, why

 

[Rock & Roller Wabbit]

Did you not see the word may. Chill out sensitive tard. The OP post says there won't be much combos it has been pretty clear in the streams haven't seen much or any.

(I know these are just follow ups, but it's damn close)
Other than that, sorry for the rant. I get really pissed when I see people saying that Sm4sh is gonna be Brawl 2.0.

 

[Crawfish]

wow.
GAME ISN'T EVEN OUT IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU'RE ALREADY JUDGING IT.
Unless you have a Japanese 3DS and a copy of the game FROM Japan(or have played the demo),
you have no right to judge the game as Brawl 2.0.
AND EVEN THEN, what's the problem with that? It'd still be a fun Super Smash Bros. game. There's still gonna be tournaments.
Don't ridicule a game unless you've played it. Otherwise, you're just another user jumping on the bandwagon.

you know, i was really excited about the game having combos. i can't complain if it doesn't? i get the feeling, sakurai will never give us anything even close to melee ever again. not even close to the original(64). it really makes me sad. but i'll still play sm4sh. i'm just...disappointed is all...

 

[Kink-Link5]

you guys, if you keep playing melee just for that, you got a problem.

People will keep playing Melee because dashing isn't an overdedicated botch in that game.

wow.
GAME ISN'T EVEN OUT IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU'RE ALREADY JUDGING IT.
Unless you have a Japanese 3DS and a copy of the game FROM Japan(or have played the demo),
you have no right to judge the game as Brawl 2.0.
AND EVEN THEN, what's the problem with that? It'd still be a fun Super Smash Bros. game. There's still gonna be tournaments.
Don't ridicule a game unless you've played it. Otherwise, you're just another user jumping on the bandwagon.

Brawl is released

"WOW MELEE ---S SO BUTT BLASTED THE GAME ISN'T MELEE BUT IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING NEW"

Smash4 is released

"WOW MELEE ---S SO BUTT BLASTED THE GAME MIGHT BE JUST LIKE BRAWL."


The so-called Melee fans just wanted something fresh out of the game. Being able to F-tilt out of Dashturnaround isn't quite enough. Brawl offered something different -- good, bad, or otherwise, just different.

 

[TrevonMarrast]

"I never die in Smash 4!"

 

[Jackson]

Wait... are you telling me that in Melee if someone hits me up and I press down on the control stick that does nothing?

 

[The Light Music Club]

Without complaints, we would have the relatively same gameplay as the E3 build. Our complaints changed the game.

That was before the game came out. The game is out now. Suck it up.

 

[kaliskonig]

Strong Bad "discovered" the new form of DI even though the game specifically tells you about it in the hints, and has a name for it?

Shhhh! let them have their moment! lol

 

[Delzethin]

Basically, they replaced the old DI mechanic with something more intuitive and easier to learn. It only raises kill move survivability by a little, which will matter less as people learn what their kill moves are. It doesn't outright ruin combos most of the time, only making them require a little more heads-up reaction to perform and giving combo victims a chance to escape them by outsmarting their opponent instead of getting upwards of 60% tacked on to them helplessly.

So how in Arceus' name is this a bad thing? >_>

 

[Snowbird]

I don't think you realize how terribly dull a neutral game is. Combined with the already slow air time, this could make it a lot less fun, just being able to hold your control stick away from your enemy in order to get out of everything.

 

[Mr.Random]

I've tested this with Bowser. He can live to insane percents against most characters.

 

[NintendoPSX]

The way people are talking it almost seems like they wait for people to come back to the stage. Am I the only one who's learned to follow people off the stage for a risk/reward factor? Anyways, it's not hard to follow someone off the stage for a meteor or any good aerial kill.

 

[oathkeeper005]

Im not a fan of this mechanic, but Im willing to see how it plays out. On paper is seems like it makes it hard, if not impossible, to combo and do certain followups. Not only that but it lentghens the time spent alive. It does Both of those In a much more drastic way then DI ever did.

But Vectoring is a bad name because there isnt really a eas way to say it. Perhaps if We called is Vector Influence and then refereed to it as VI. I dunno. I just think it will be uncomfortable to say things like "Wow, that was amazing vectoring!"

 

[JoeyTroey]

That moment when you've been "vectoring" your whole Smash career, but then someone else "discovers" it.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

Holding the control stick downward and toward the stage when launched is what just about every new Smash player tries to do. I personally don't consider this an advanced technique needing a new name because it's actually rather intuitive.

 

[Richard 89]

I'd rather go by the name DI, it's just original.

 

[The Light Music Club]

I like how everyone is complaining when most of them have yet to play the full game. I myself have it, and while I do get really mad I can't kill people, I still deal with it and find a way to try and win. Others need to learn to play that way and learn a new game instead of complaining about how this game doesn't work exactly as a game from 2001 did.

 

[kaliskonig]

[
I get really pissed when I see people saying that Sm4sh is gonna be Brawl 2.0.

You and me both. I like how this is back to being Brawl 2.0 because of one small mechanic change. Smash 5 is going to be Brawl 3.0 I guess. Honestly can't wait until some of the "fan-base" flocks to a different game so we won't have to hear such nonsense.

That moment when you've been "vectoring" your whole Smash career, but then someone else "discovers" it.

The Christopher Columbus effect lol!

The way people are talking it almost seems like they wait for people to come back to the stage. Am I the only one who's learned to follow people off the stage for a risk/reward factor? Anyways, it's not hard to follow someone off the stage for a meteor or any good aerial kill.

Same here. My "casual" smash regulars I play with who usually played Brawl and Melee super safe by staying on stage at all times are even upping their off-stage game. It came natural for them. They even like it. These new mechanics makes the game feel fresh and lively if you ask me.

 

[BoTastic!]

Has anyone actually tested this during being combo'd or just at killing %?

 

[z00ted]

That moment when you've been "vectoring" your whole Smash career, but then someone else "discovers" it.

That moment you realize it's only been possible to execute in Smash 4 and while reading this you're wrong.

 

[oathkeeper005]

Wait... are you telling me that in Melee if someone hits me up and I press down on the control stick that does nothing?

It never has in any smash game before Smash4. before you could effect your trajectory by angling it in an adjacent direction during hitlag (Example: A move hits you where go Up. The second that it hits, can change the angle it will send you slightly more left or right) Its a very imporant mid/high level mechanic to know, but there are many nuances to using it well.

 

[Ceci Kiyomizu]

Interesting....

 

[allison]

This doesn't strike me as much more powerful than DI, just easier to use (which is a good thing). There's more versatility to this new mechanic, but I doubt it'll be game breaking

 

[SchAlternate]

So, anyway, how is this a bad thing?

 

[Kikkipoptart12]

I hate when people calling Smash 4 Brawl 2.0, just because it's not melee it's not Brawl 2.0. How about try to learn something new instead of playing it safe like you did for the pass 10 years.

 

[NewGuy79]

ya know when I first saw this on the front page I thought the mass hysteria from the forum post wouldn't carry over....oh how wrong was I

 

[Mansta]

This is actually how I used to think DI worked in Melee and Brawl before I started learning tech skill. This becoming an actual game mechanic is weird, but it will be an easy change for me.

 

[-Se7en-]

The only thing I really understood from this is that you are trying to rename DI by saying it's not the same but it still is.

It's really just a more advanced form of DI involving constants, weight, and acceleration speed with something to do with frames.

You still hold a certain direction, you go a certain direction.

It's just DI but with a stupidly large amount of statistics that affect it.

I got a better name : "New DI".

 

[BioZelink]

Well, so it actually makes sense now? If you fly up, hold down. That is actually great, i'm sure people will complain because they are used to the old way DI worked, but think about it. This way is a lot more natural and just makes a lot more sense.

 

[Space Stranger]

WAIT STOP FIGHTING! I need to prepare my popcorn.

Proceed.

 

[-Se7en-]

So, anyway, how is this a bad thing?

In summary, this means that those combos we thought were inescapable, actually are.

Brawl didn't have true combos because people could alter their direction + they suffer low hitstun, so it's pretty much the same.

 

[Gidy]

Basically, they replaced the old DI mechanic with something more intuitive and easier to learn. It only raises kill move survivability by a little, which will matter less as people learn what their kill moves are. It doesn't outright ruin combos most of the time, only making them require a little more heads-up reaction to perform and giving combo victims a chance to escape them by outsmarting their opponent instead of getting upwards of 60% tacked on to them helplessly.

So how in Arceus' name is this a bad thing? >_>

Holding the circle pad up isn't out smarting. It's braindead, if anything. The game already has enough defensive options so it's your fault if you get caught in a combo. Heavy characters, like bowser, can survive to insanely high percents while light to mid weight characters only survive "a little" when using this mechanic.

That was before the game came out. The game is out now. Suck it up.

If Nintendo is wanting to get more in touch with their community and host tournements, they should know that other game companies take feedback from their community to make a game better. Is it wrong that we want that?

 

[SchAlternate]

The only thing I really understood from this is that you are trying to rename DI by saying it's not the same but it still is.

It's really just a more advanced form of DI involving constants, weight, and acceleration speed with something to do with frames.

You still hold a certain direction, you go a certain direction.

It's just DI but with a stupidly large amount of statistics that affect it.

I got a better name : "New DI".

We'll call it the New DI.

Already beat you to it.

In summary, this means that those combos we thought were inescapable, actually are.

Brawl didn't have true combos because people could alter their direction + they suffer low hitstun, so it's pretty much the same.

I don't think it will affect comboing as harshly as Brawl did.

 

[MM720]

I'm.....not happy about this but I'll deal with it. Something tells me Sakurai did it on purpose (then again I get the feeling that if the community treats it as DI and calls it competitive then he'll remove it from Smash 5)

Plan: Let's just call combos, DI and wavedashing casual from now on and projectiles, multiple airdodges and huge blast zones competitive! Then we may get the perfect Smash 5 :3

 

[Aninymouse]

With talks intensifying with Super Smash Bros. 4's competitive viability, many people noticed that the typical Directional Influence that existed in past iterations of the Smash series was different this time around. Resident PMDT member Strong Bad did some research on this new form of DI, and discovered something that could potentially revolutionize the way Smash 4 is played. Strong Bad has named this new mechanic "Vectoring".

This image made by Krynxe generally describes how vectoring works. These are not exact values.
​

In previous games, when a player got hit and sent flying, they could hold down a direction on the control stick and slightly, but significantly influence the direction their character went towards. A player could not change the level of knockback, they could just influence the angle at which they were sent for a more favorable position. This is directional influence at its most basic level, click here if you want more details on DI.

According to Strong Bad, this mechanic no longer exists in Smash 4;

When you get hit, you receive knockback. This is a raw value calculated based on percent, weight, the knockback values of the move, and the damage/staling of the move, and then your character moves that many in-game units per frame. There's a constant in the game that subtracts from that speed, so you are going X units/frame on frame 1 and then (x-constant*frame#) units/frame on subsequent frames. Other factors take place such as a character's falling speed acceleration and such, but that's the general idea. Physics is fun!

In Smash 4, by holding a direction on the control stick (or circle pad in our case), you're able to add a vector of units/frame to your knockback when launched. A simple explanation of a vector in this context is a value of units/frame as well as a direction. I believe this vector's strength is a percentage of the knockback you're suffering, so it's less powerful at low percents/when hit by weak attacks and more powerful at higher percents/when hit by powerful attacks.​

Essentially, if you're knocked 90 degrees upwards at a speed of 100 units/frame, and you're holding down on the circle pad, you're adding a downward vector of 10 units/frame to the upward knockback, resulting in an upwards vector of 90 units/frame. The 10 units/frame number was made up for the sake of the example, the exact value of that vector has yet to be determined, it could be a percentage or it could be a formula much more complex than a simple percentage.

Have you ever tried to explain DI to one of your friends? It's a daunting task. Vectoring is definitely a more intuitive concept of survival; if you are headed towards the right blast zone, hold left! If you're headed towards the top blast zone, hold down! This dramatically changes the way players survive in Smash 4. Prior to this game, one could not hold parallel directions to help influence their character's knockback.

Here's a video showing examples of how Vectoring works in Smash 4!

This significantly changes the metagame for Smash 4. One can escape down-throw followups at higher percentages by holding upwards. The way that Smash players understood DI appears to have changed in a major way for Smash 4. Strong Bad is a bit wary of this new mechanic. When asked his initial thoughts on Vectoring's impact on competitive play, he said;

Many of the combos that we've been seeing and were excited about are no longer true or even likely. It turns the game into a very neutral-heavy game, which isn't bad but isn't that fun/exciting. I understand that these are first impressions, and am willing to change my opinion based on new information that's yet to be attained, after metagame development.
​

Even though this is well-researched and seems legitimate, it's worth noting that this is still a theory until it's been proven wholly. How do you feel about this new mechanic? Does this impact how you feel about the future of competitive Smash 4? Thanks to Strong Bad for giving me his thoughts on Vectoring, follow Strong Bad on Twitter @Strong_Badam!

KhanYe left his 3DS in the US when he moved to Ireland for school. He's sad. Follow him on Twitter @rbdayman for a good time.

Excellent article, Khanye. This was very informative and easy to understand with clear examples. Or at least, as clear as can be illustrated for a brand-new mechanic without using a bunch of RAM-draining gifs.

Seems like this is neither good nor bad; it has both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, Smash 4 has a lot of low percentage combos to get people up to dangerous percents, but on the other hand, once they are put in a marginal amount of danger, the defender gains the ability to, well, more vehemently survive. People live longer in general, as a result. Thus, strong kill moves and gimps/spikes off stage are of the utmost importance. However, some characters like Robin and Palutena seem content to zone out opponents, racking up huge percentage, and killing with aerials - a different strategy with a similar, albeit more consistant result (as opposed to combo-heavy or rushdown/momentum characters).

 

[True Blue Warrior]

This is pretty interesting.

 

[Jackson]

It never has in any smash game before Smash4. before you could effect your trajectory by angling it in an adjacent direction during hitlag (Example: A move hits you where go Up. The second that it hits, can change the angle it will send you slightly more left or right) Its a very imporant mid/high level mechanic to know, but there are many nuances to using it well.

Wow... and I thought I was good at DI, haha. So, in Melee, when hit up, I should DI left or right, and when hit left or right, I should DI up. (survival DI)